Al-Azhar, the foremost institution in Sunni Islam, refuses to declare the Islamic State apostate

In June 2009 at al-Azhar, Barack Obama said: “For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning.”

In October 2001, right after 9/11, the New York Times called Al-Azhar “the revered mosque, the distinguished university, the leading voice of the Sunni Muslim establishment.” It quoted a Muslim cleric: “Al Azhar is the only institution in the world that has learned the moderate Islam and taught it in a moderate way without fanaticism, and without abiding by the teachings of a school that promotes rigidity or violence.”

So why doesn’t al-Azhar declare the Islamic State apostate? Non-Muslim authorities all over the West assume that the vast majority of Muslims reject and abhor the understanding of Islam taught by the Islamic State. Why doesn’t the foremost institution in Sunni Islam validate that assumption? Because they know that what the Islamic State is doing has ample justification in Islamic texts and teachings. The beheadings (Qur’an 47:4); the subjugation of Christians as dhimmis (Qur’an 9:29) or the massacre of Christians who refused to submit (Qur’an 9:5); the sexual enslavement of infidel women (Qur’an 4:3, 4:24, 23:1-6, 33:50, 70:30) — it’s all there.

“Why does Egypt’s largest Muslim beacon, Al-Azhar, refuse to declare IS ‘apostate’?,” by Taha Saker, Egypt Independent, April 14, 2017:

After the Islamic State (IS) militant group declared its responsibility for Palm Sunday’s deadly attacks that targeted two Coptic churches in Egypt’s Delta and Alexandria city, several media figures and organizations launched severe attack against Egypt’s largest religious institution, Al-Azhar University, considering its teachings as fostering religious extremism.

Through these outlets, Al-Azhar is now facing the backlash of taking part in supporting the IS-affiliated members through its insistance [sic] to refuse considering the IS group as ‘apostates’ and through maintaining some extremist teachings in the syllabuses that are taught to its students.

The backlash criticized the educational syllabuses that are being currently taught in Al-Azhar institution that include teachings from some prominent clerics. These teachings directly incite the brutal killing of anyone who does not follow Islam or who had been deemed to be an ‘infidel’.

The criticism, released from those figures and other media outlets, accused the aforementioned teachings of Al-Azhar by increasingly contributing to generate numerous members affiliated to IS.

Moreover, Al-Azhar’s teaching are perceived by some as the main platform that legitimizes the killing and slaughtering which are currently being practiced by IS group in different parts of the world, in the name of Islamic (Sharia) law….

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A LEADING SAUDI CLERIC ENDORSES ISIS DOCTRINES – Sheikh Adel al-Kalbani
A former imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Sheikh Adel al-Kalbani, has said that the Islamic State (IS) group follows the same brand of Islam as officially espoused by Saudi Arabia.
“We follow the same thought [as IS] but apply it in a refined way,” he said. “They draw their ideas from what is written in our own books, from our own principles.”
The cleric said that “we do not criticise the thought on which it (IS) is based”.

It is clear from the above statement that ALL SALAFI CLERICS who endorse the DOCTRINES OF ISIS are in effect ISLAMOPHOBIC.

johan, I think they might mean in ‘finer surroundings,’ it being Saudi Arabia and all. Maybe parking lots of hotels, or city centers with a square, surrounded by the fine shops. Much more refined. Critical distinction, too. I’m sure those being beheaded and stoned can feel and see the difference. ‘Ah, so much nicer HERE to be beheaded! Thank Allah I’m being stoned in Saudi Arabia instead of by those uncouth buzzards, the IS!’

Clearly, we’re all in favor of such refinements … no wonder the U.S. offers such support for Saudi Arabia … and here I was puzzling over what could be those reasons. And now I know!

HERE’S THE ANSWER FROM ISLAM’S LEADING AUTHORITY, AL AZHAR, BUT IT’S INCOMPREHENSIBLE…

Basically, ‘if we condemned ISIS, we would have to kill them”…

During an open discussion at Cairo University held on December 2, 2015, Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Sheikh and Grand Imam of Al Azhar — and thus Egypt’s foremost authority on all things Islamic — was again asked why Al Azhar refuses to issue a formal statement denouncing the Islamic State of lapsing into a state of kufr, that is, of becoming un-Islamic, “infidel.”

“Al Azhar cannot accuse any [Muslim] of being a kafir [infidel], as long as he believes in Allah and the Last Day—even if he commits every atrocity,” adding: “I cannot denounce ISIS as un-Islamic, but I can say that they cause corruption on earth. ISIS believes that those [Muslims] who commit the great sins are kafirs and can be killed. Thus if I denounce them of being un-Islamic, I fall into the same [trap] I am now condemning.”

Well, Mohammed didn’t write the Koran. He was illiterate. It was written sometime after his death. The same is true of the New Testament. It was written after the death of Jesus by others. I don’t think we know whether or not Jesus was illiterate.

But there is no doubt that Mohammed taught that he was the perfect man with orders directly from Allah.

“Al Azhar cannot accuse any [Muslim] of being a kafir [infidel], as long as he believes in Allah and the Last Day—even if he commits every atrocity”
…………………….

That’s Islam in a nutshell–peaceful Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and Atheists should be slaughtered for not believing in Allah, but those committing every atrocity are Muslims in good standing.

Let’s not forget that a female Al Azhar academic also encouraged the rape of infidel women as ‘the best way of humiliating them’.
That’s NOT passive acceptance of Isis but active encouragement of their horrors.

Exactly, Rob. It is not just that Al Azhar will not condemn ISIS’s actions–in almost all cases, they actively *condone* them. And how could it be otherwise? They both follow Islam, and the model of the vicious “Prophet”.

Al Azhar does what its supposed to do: to teach and protect Islam and the Arabic language. It did exactly that for centuries. I know Al Azhar very well and its graduates do know Islam very well.

It may surprise you here that there are Muslims who believe Al Azhar has actually become too liberal and ‘appeaser to the west’.

Why blame Al Azhar? most Muslims I spoke to (in the Gulf, Egypt and Jordan) believe ISIS may have made mistakes (in implementing Islam) but certainly cannot be described as infidels to please the enemies of allah.

Considering Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman was a head of Qur’anic studies there, considering Abdullah Azzam had a PhD in Islamic Jurisprudence from Al-Azhar, or that other illustrious alumni include Hamas co-founder Ahmed Yassin, and al-Habnani, founder of Hizb ut-Tahrir….of course, the beacon of Islamic learning cannot call the Islamic State apostate.

If ISIS follows the same religion as Saudi Arabia, it cannot be true that ISIS is not representative of Islam. Unless SA is to be condemned as not really Muslim. And if ISIS is representative of Islam, why should anyone tolerate the Islamisation of the West ?

This makes perfect sense. Islamic State members are the truest, purest of all Muslims and these clerics know it. Given time and the right conditions, Islamic State would become normative, although its character and name might vary. In spirit, Saudi Arabia is “Islamic State” and even Turkey aspires to follow suit. Islamic State is the real Muhammadan deal — the rest are apostates and hypocrites.

The ugly face of Mr. Hyde is an inseparable manifestation of Islam and he is easily conjured up – like a snake enticed from its basket – when the learned Dr. Jekyll from Al-Azhar commences his mesmerizing recitations of the Quran.

At its Tricentennial in September 1936, Harvard had a procession of deans of ancient universities lead a procession into the convocation; along with Oxford and Cambridge, al-Azhar was given the honor of leading it due to its age: I hope that at the upcoming Quadricentennial that we don’t make that mistake again. Heck, I hope Harvard doesn’t turn into a Madrassa by then the way things are going…(sorry to sound snobbish but Harvard, in the old days, used to churn out ministers and great American patriots that would astound and trigger the undergrad populace today)

Former President Barack Obama used to make the false statement that the Islamic State was not Islamic and had nothing to do with Islam. Here in Egypt is the leading educational institution on Sunni Islam in the whole world known as Al-Azahar. This university can not declare the Islamic State as apostates, because the Islamic State is following is following the teachings of Islam. Conclusion, the Islamic State is definitely Islamic. The only difference is that the Islamic State is more strict and more severe and more brutal in it’s application of Islamic law.

Malik, the question is not whether ISIS cares–it is the admission from Al-Azhar that ISIS is Islamic. This sends a clear message to ordinary Muslims that this savagery is perfectly Islamic, and it alerts any Infidels savvy enough to see what Islam really is.

Now there’s a target for cruises and MOABs! Ah no, I forgot, he’s chummy with their president. Who is a useful alley, just like those modest Saudis, Erdogan… BTW, has he ever mentioned CAIRN, the M. Brotherhood?

The problem is not Islam.
Islam has not changed in over 1400 years and is by definition, unchangeable.
What has changed is Western civilization.
Our societies and politics are imploding. We stand for nothing and defend nothing but the right of others to colonize and replace us in our own countries.
‘Why?’ is the Great Question of our historical era. No one seems to have a clue.
Blame it on Islam if you like, but you are wasting your time pursuing that end of it.
The West has changed into something that refuses to defend its right to exist.

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